Chairman Lu Qingguo's New Year's Message for 2025

As the winter solstice marks the rebirth of the sun and the year turns anew, the swift footsteps of 2024 have passed, ushering in the fresh and vibrant year of 2025. On this joyous occasion of bidding farewell to the old and embracing the new, I, on behalf of the leadership of Chenguang Group, would like to extend my heartfelt New Year greetings and best wishes to all our diligent employees and their families, wherever they may be in India, Zambia, Myanmar, or across our domestic lands. Additionally, my greetings extend to all leaders at various levels, shareholders, customers, partners, and friends from all walks of life who have shown care and support for the growth of Chenguang Biotech.
Looking back at 2024, the international landscape was in constant flux, geopolitical risks persisted, and the global economic recovery faced significant challenges. In such a challenging environment, we, the Chenguang people, remained true to our original aspirations, pressed ahead with determination, and continued to carve out our own glory with extraordinary perseverance and wisdom.
This year, the Chenguang team has risen to the challenge, worked tirelessly to scale new heights, and accomplished remarkable results. Our three core products—Paprika Oleoresin (for color), Capsicum Oleoresin (for pungency), and Lutein—have developed steadily, further consolidating our market position. We have continuously innovated application-oriented products to meet the diverse needs of our customers. The revenue share from nutritional and spice products has been steadily increasing. Through advancements in our extraction process, we have enhanced the advantages of our stevia raw materials. The Yingkou equipment business is experiencing robust growth. Sales of animal health products have surged, and sales revenue of health food has set a new record high.
This year, the company has steadily advanced process technology improvements, carried out new project construction in an orderly manner, and continuously enhanced its comprehensive competitiveness. The protein production line has undergone technical transformation, resulting in a significant increase in the output ratio of products with 60% protein content. The stevia extraction and refining workshop has been upgraded, greatly reducing production costs. The construction of the 200-ton extraction facility in Tengchong has significantly boosted the production capacity of capsicum oleoresin. The photovoltaic project has filled a gap, adding new vitality to the company's green industry. The first phase of the comprehensive extraction project for nutrition and medicine has been completed and put into production, laying the foundation for the company to achieve another world-leading position. The successful trial planting of marigolds in Myanmar and the bumper harvest of paprika on the Zambian farm have strengthened the foundation for the construction of a strategic base for foreign raw materials.
This year, the company focused on comprehensive utilization technology for plant resources, exploring new directions for the plant extraction industry. The 5-CQA conversion process achieved new breakthroughs. A new process for silymarin was successfully implemented. New high-end formulation products were developed and launched onto the market. The yield of lutein ester products increased by 9%. Significant progress was made in astaxanthin extraction and refining technology. The trial planting of superior marigold varieties was successful, and a breakthrough in double haploid breeding technology was achieved for the first time in China. The plant gum project has achieved phased results in terms of molecular structure and application, and is poised to become a new economic growth point for the company.
This year, the company has made intensive efforts in the field of intellectual property rights, ranking among the top 500 Chinese enterprises in patent strength. It participated in the formulation of the national standard GB/T 43808-2024 'Terminology for Plant Extracts' and topped the list of participating enterprises. The company has successively won the titles of "Leading Enterprise of Strategic Emerging Industry Clusters in Hebei Province" and "National Advanced Collective in the Light Industry Sector". The 'Key Technologies and Industrialization Project for Large-scale Comprehensive Processing of Peppers and Production of Application-oriented Products' won the First Prize at the Xinjiang Science and Technology Progress Awards. The 'Marigold Comprehensive Extraction and High-value Utilization Project' won the Silver Medal at the Xiong'an High-value Patent Competition. At the same time, many outstanding employees of the company were honored as "Fellows of the Provincial Science and Technology Association", "Provincial Outstanding Science and Technology Workers", "Provincial Model Workers", and "Municipal High-level Talents".
As the industry leader, in the New Year, we must live up to the trust of the times, undaunted by challenges and press forward courageously. In the New Year, we must be determined to be customer-centric, diligently create value for our customers, work together to build an ecologically harmonious and prosperous industrial oasis, and lead the industry into a new era of healthy development. In the New Year, we must give full play to our unique advantages, leveraging the wisdom of our talent, sophisticated technology, robust equipment, and substantial capital, open up new frontiers in the plant extraction industry, and steadily advance the health industry, including health foods and traditional Chinese medicines.
Follow the path diligently, but remember to intensify your efforts halfway through. The truth is not far, but don't shy away from hard work in reaching the summit. Facing the surging opportunities and challenges, we must adopt a proactive and open stance, uphold the core value concept of "people and enterprises develop together," and adhere to the innovation-driven development strategy. We must inscribe the spirit of hard work, dedication, and commitment into our hearts, promote a corporate culture of integrity and self-discipline, work together, face challenges fearlessly, and paint a beautiful tomorrow for ourselves with full enthusiasm!
Finally, I wish you all good health, successful career, blessings in all seasons and all the best!